Our shoulders will not drop: Smith

MI opener says loss will not hamper preparations to get into final

When Dwayne Smith was scoring runs at will, one almost got the feeling that a target of 193 set by Chennai Super Kings would be chased down in less than twenty overs. The ball was dispatched to all parts of the ground, some sixes were towering, some flat on the boundary ropes while some of them was left for the crowd to do the catching.

For a moment even CSK captain MS Dhoni would have had second thoughts about the daunting target when Smith was treating every CSK bowler with disdain.

Smith was scoring at a strike-rate of over two hundred and when he was out caught by Suresh Raina off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in the ninth over, Smith had already scored 68 off 28 balls with five sixes and six fours. Mumbai Indians were in a position of control even after Smith’s departure purely because of the start given by the West Indian opener. To MI’s dismay the team could not capitalize on Smith’s blitzkrieg as they fell short of the target by 49 runs. Smith was gutted with the team’s loss as he quietly sat in a corner after watching his team go down.

“It is unfortunate to end up on the losing side. I love to win,” said Smith after the match in a quick chat with IPLT20.com.

Saddening it was to be as Smith was going great guns having blasted Chris Morrisand R Ashwin for sixes until CSK decided to take the strategic time-out before the seventh over of the match. Smith was dismissed an over after the time-out and from then on it was CSK all the way.

When asked if the time-out broke the momentum of his knock, Smith said “I do not think that the time-out broke the momentum of the game. At some point of time it always had to happen and I was ready to regroup my innings after the short break. If I had been there for a little more time, we could have probably gone on to win the game.”

Chasing 193 was never meant to be easy and Smith’s message from the dressing room before the run chase was clear. “For me it was just to make sure we got some quick runs on the board and as many as possible so that we could have ourselves in a good position. We were going on well and always felt we were in the game. The wicket got better in the second innings. There was more even bounce and it was lovely to bat on which made us confident of achieving the target,” said Smith.

Smith also felt there were several turning points to the game. “I think myself getting out and the two quick wickets of Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma to fall later were the turning points of the game. “There was a ray of hope when Kieron Pollard was going well, but wickets falling at regular intervals did not help our cause,” he added. With one more shot for the spot, Smith said the side will be more eager to perform in their next game.

“We still have another chance. We have to regroup and comeback strong in the next game to get a chance to play in the final. We are still in the competition and our confidence will not drop,” said the opener.

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